My father who lives in the Bronx is telling me about this snow storm that’s happening. He is telling me that no one is allowed to drive in NYC, and if you get caught driving you can get a ticket. This doesn’t seem right (or even constitutional) to me. I live in a place that gets a lot of snow and the police will sometimes recommend that people not drive, but they don’t enforce it. Can I get a ticket if I drive in NYC?
Travel bans are pretty common in a snow emergency. This allows for roads to be cleared, emergency vehicles to get through, and stops lots of accidents from happening. And yes, you’ll get a ticket if you don’t have a good reason for being out.
What provision of the Constitution do you think grants a right to drive anywhere at any time?
Freedom of assembly?
Driving is not a right, and is licensed by the state (check your wallet). Since the state licenses it, the state can make regulations.
Technically, I suppose the mayor has to ask the DMV to make the ruling, but they won’t give him any trouble about it.
What constitutes “a good reason”? If I’m driving from Delaware to Connecticut on I95, are there signs telling me that I can’t drive?
Oh, you’re perfectly free to assemble. You just have to be willing to walk there.
Sometimes Indiana has moratoria on driving, which means you need a good reason to be on the road, like being critical at work. I had a card I carried at one job when I worked with an agency the served disabled people, and once every six weeks, I carried the emergency pager. Sometimes when I got paged, I had to go out. I went out in some pretty bad weather, but I don’t think I ever went out during a moratorium. I was ready, though.
Given that cars didn’t exist when the constitution was drafted, I don’t see how there could be a constitutional right to use one. Besides, I think since drivers have been licensed, driving has been viewed as a privilege, and not a right. It can be taken away for all kinds of reasons. We don’t, for example, have to have closed tracks inside prisons so that prisoners can exercise their constitutional right to drive, the way we have chapels, and other provisions in prisons, so prisoners can exercise their right to freedom of religion.
Plenty of people traveled in NYC this morning. But how is that possible if it was illegal for them to drive and the transit system was closed? :eek: They strapped on their [del]big-girl panties[/del] boots and walked. :smack: Like some people do every day. :rolleyes:
Posting from NYC here. The travel ban was lifted and the subways were running as of 9:00 AM this morning. I went to work on the subway just like any other day. And I saw plenty of cars on the streets.
Earlier in the morning, before the subway system reopened. Like some people whose jobs start earlier than the usual 9-5. (And in that particular case are paid handsomely for the inconvenience. 
)
The vehicle ban lasted from 11pm Monday to 9am Tuesday. But between those hours you could be ticketed for being in a vehicle on the road (including a bicycle) unless you were providing emergency services.
I would note it was not illegal to be a pedestrian on the street at any time. No curfew was imposed.
There are here in MA. But before the electronic signs were installed it was the driver’s responsibility to know when a ban went into effect. This isn’t rocket science and it’s not like folks were unaware of the storm.
Nobody drives in NYC, anyway. There’s too much traffic.
Nobody is stopping you from putting the car together, you just can’t test drive it…
On my one visit to NYC, I was amazed at all the vehicles, mostly taxis.
There will likely be reminders of travel bans on those LED signs on highways that warn motorists of various traffic issues. Also, be advised that there is a travel ban in CT, although I believe it was lifted for Fairfield County (the first county over the CT border if you enter via NYC on I-95).
in the interest of promoting a stable city horses were allowed.
Are horse-drawn vehicles included in the ban? E.g. can I drive up to Amish Country, borrow some guy’s buggy, and ride it into NYC legally? Yes, I know it is probably not a good idea. I’m pretty sure you can’t have horse-drawn vehicles on the New Jersey Turnpike, so I’d have to stay on the back roads.